Clove's POV
by l0velynikolee
Summary: Clove's story in The Hunger Games, beginning to end. Small flashbacks during the story. Based on both the movie and the book. Little bit of Clato. My first fanfiction. Hope you guys like it!
1. Chapter 1

**Clove's POV**

**Chapter 1**

I open my eyes and reach for my blanket. I feel it's not on my body. I get up and look around. The white, torn-up rag is on the floor.

I feel my face. It's drenched in sweat. _Oh great, another nightmare._

Of course, I would have a nightmare. _It's my district's reaping day._

Being in District Two, you'd think it would be fun to get reaped for the Games. But no. Some of us who are in training think otherwise. The trainers tell you it's a huge honor to get reaped, even more of an honor if you win.

That's why we train. We train practically our whole lives. You choose a weapon, I chose throwing knives, train everyday, turn eighteen, and you volunteer. Good thing I'm only fourteen, and don't need to volunteer for another four years. Unless, the odds are in my favor and I get reaped. But I can't think like that.

I sit on the bed, and breathe. _Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale_.

When I have the strength, I get up and head to the kitchen. I walk up to the sink, turn on the faucet, and wash my face. The cool, cool water splashing on my face feels nice on my heated, sweaty skin.

My mom comes out of her bedroom, as well as my brother. They sleep next to each other, you see. My little brother, Caleb, is too scared to sleep on his own. He is only 12 years old, and I love him ever so dearly. Him being twelve, this is his first reaping.

Caleb has blue eyes, like my father. I have hazel eyes, just like my mom.

My dad died from a fire in the Nut, which is a huge building where we store all our weapons for the Capitol.

"Good morning, sweetie," Mom greets me.

"Not that good of a morning, but, morning," I sigh.

"Clove, aren't you scared?" Caleb asks sleepily.

"Caleb, I've already been through this twice, I'm not scared," I say, when in reality, I _am_ scared.

"Oh."

I open the kitchen cabinet to see if we have any food left. There's only a little—canned soup, a couple of mint leaves, and some stale bread. Being close to the Capitol, you'd think that we'd get some kind of special treatment, but we really don't. We only get canned food once a week, every other week. The other kinds of food that we have, like bread, we either steal or trade.

I take out the stale loaf of bread. I walk to the stove, light it, and heat the bread up, so we can have some kind of enjoyment to this horrid day.

When it's done heating up, I take it, put it on a cloth, and set it on our kitchen table. I rip it up equally so we can each get a fair ration.

When we're done eating, mom tells me and Caleb to get ready.

I take a bath first, in a small tub with cold water. I rinse my whole body, including my hair.

When I'm done, I dry myself with a rag. I go into my room, and look in my small closet. I pick a soft pink dress, that falls to the knees. I walk over to the cracked, full-body mirror, and look at myself. I grab a hairpin from my bedside table and pin my hair up into a bun.

"Beautiful," my mom whispers from the door.

"Thanks, mom," I say.

I walk out of my room and sit on our dinner table. I see Caleb walk out of mom's room.

"Wow," I gasp. "You look so handsome!"

And he truly does look very handsome. He's wearing his school shirt, which is a white collared shirt, along with gray pants.

"Thanks, Clove," he blushes.

"Anytime," I say, and kiss him on the forehead.

Both mom and Caleb join me to sit at the dinner table. We sit in a moment in silence, and try to prepare ourselves for what's to come.

After about 10 minutes, my mother breaks the silence. "Let's go. Better not be late."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

My brother and I are walking towards the front of the justice building, hand in hand. There are a lot of people here in District Two. The justice building fills up pretty quickly.

When we are near the front, I see the sign-in station. When you sign-in, the Capitol attendant at the station has a gadget that pricks your finger and gets a simply of your blood. When the sample of blood has been taken, the attendant has another gadget that can identify you, just by your blood.

Caleb sees the sign-in station, too, because he stops randomly in the middle of the walkway, and moves to the side.

"Sh, it's okay, Caleb. We're just going to sign in now. There going to prick your finger and take a little bit of blood."

He starts breathing heavily. "But you didn't say anything about that."

"I know," I comfort him. "It won't hurt much, I promise. We're just going to sign-in and I'll meet you over there, okay?"

Caleb nods.

We're back on the path, and we get separated when we near the sign-in desk, and I get worried. How can someone so fragile, and so young be alone on a day like this? _He will be fine._ I think. So I let him go off on his own, and no longer pay attention to him.

When it's my turn to sign in, the Capitol attendant is wearing a crisp, white uniform, with black safety gloves.

"Next," she says, and she motions me to give my hand to her.

I walk forward and put out my hand, and stick out my fore finger. Her black, nylon gloves feel hard on my soft, tender hands that have been throwing knives their whole lives.

She puts her gadget forward into my finger, and _prick_. I feel the blood gushing out of my finger. She puts my bloody finger on a spot in a notebook. She let's go of my hand, gets another gadget, and puts it over the spot in the notebook where my blood lies. The gadget gives a little _beep_ and shows my name and age:

SEVINA, CLOVE

AGE FOURTEEN

The attendant looks at the identification, and nods. "Okay, go."

I leave the desk and head towards the crowd of fourteen-sixteen year old girls. I look over to the twelve year old boys crowd and see Caleb. His cheeks are so red, I can tell that he's really nervous.

I look around to see if there's anyone else I care about in the crowd of boys. There's no one. Then someone catches my eye. I see him, the blonde-haired boy—Cato— who's such a show-off in the Training Center. He's wearing a beige shirt with black pants. Even the loose sleeves on his t-shirt can't hide the fact that he's strong and masculine.

In the training center, not only does he show-off, but he also flirts with other girls. Not that I'm jealous or anything, it just bothers me.

He did flirt with me once. Just once.

It was during summer, when I was just about to turn fourteen. I was in the Training Center late at night. I was practicing throwing knives, when I heard a sound from the other room. I got scared, so I walked slowly to the other room, my knives in hand. I opened the door, and I saw him, there practicing his sword fighting with a dummy. I watched him as he sliced the dummy's head and arms off. When he was done, he was covered in sweat, glowing in the moonlight that gained access from the windows on the top of the Training Center. He didn't see me at first, but I broke the silence.

"Wow, that must've hurt," I say, pointing to the discarded dummy.

He turned around, and looked at me. "Well, not really, it being a dummy and all." he says with a grin.

"Is that all you do? Just stab dummies with a sword and cut off their non-existent heads, legs, and arms off?" I ask, crossing my arms.

"Sure, if you put it that way." he shrugs. He starts to walk slowly towards me. "So what do you do? Clove, right?

"Yeah." I hold up a knife in answer, still crossing my arms. "I throw them."

"Is that so?" He asks. When he gets close enough, he puts his hands on my waist. I push him away, but he still has a grip on me. "Well, then, let's see what you've got."

I push him away, nod, and lead him to the other room where I was practicing before.

I set up all the controls, and press the button when I'm ready to start.

One by one, each dummy is shown on a spotlight, and I throw one knife, at each target, in the middle.

I forget about Cato, and concentrate on the dummies and my knives. I can tell Cato's impressed, because I see him smile at the corner of my eye.

When I'm done, I take a deep breath and exhale. I turn around and see Cato's still staring at me with amazement. "Wow. You are something." he gasps.

"That's right. " I say.

Cato thinks for a moment. "How about you and me do a little hand-to-hand combat, huh?"

"Wait, you mean like, wrestling?" I ask.

"That's exactly what I mean."

"Why?" I say. There's no way I can go up against him.

"So we can test your skills." he says. "Unless, you're scared." he says with a grin.

"I am not scared." I testify.

"Oh, are you sure? Because, if you weren't scared, you'd be accepting my challenge."

That's it. My strength has been challenged. By the look on his face, he already knows that he will win. I hate losing. "Fine," I agree.

Both of us move to the middle of the room, where the wrestling mats are.

"Ready, Clove?" he grins.

"You bet." I say.

Cato comes after me and I get pinned to the ground, helpless. When he's on top of me, I try to out balance him, and succeed. We roll around the floor, and try to pin each other at the ground. After what feels like an hour, I'm finally on top of him, I stop, and so does he.

"Were _you_ ready, Cato?" I grin.

"Oh, Clove, you know me too well." He laughs.

Once forceful, sudden movement from him, and I'm pinned to the ground. I try to out balance him once more, but I'm too tired to. I try some more, and do not succeed. Cato sees this, and says, "Had enough, yet?"

I get angry at the comment and force myself to gain all the strength I have to push him over. I lay on top of him, breathless.

Cato lays on the floor, tired. "Okay, you win." he admits.

I get up and tap him twice on the cheek with my hand and walk away, "Of course, I win, Cato, I always do."

I don't see Cato when he does it, but he gets up and grabs me by the waist. I give a shriek. He pins me to the ground hard, and gets on top of me.

"Cato, what are you doing? I already won." I say.

"I just thought we should have a little fun, shouldn't we?"

"What do you mean _fun_?"

In answer, he holds onto my waist, and kisses my cheek.

"Wait, Cato! Stop don't you dare!—"

He cuts me off with another kiss—on the nose. I see him give me a smirk, and I know where he's going with this. I try to get up, but it's no use. He's just about to kiss me on the lips, when I spit in his face.

He groans in reply, and gets up. I get up too, and watch him writhe in pain, laughing.

He wipes his face and laughs, "You are a feisty one, aren't you?"

I laugh, "You haven't seen the best of me yet, Cato Hadley."

And with that, I left him, standing there.

I try to get the flashback out of my mind, and pay attention to the stage, where the District Two escort, Galea, stands.

"Welcome, welcome!" she says. "Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be _ever_ in your favor!" Her bright, bubbly tone gives me a headache.

Jus then, the film from the Capitol plays. It plays every year. I ignore it, because I already memorized all the words.

When the film is done, Galea speaks. "Now, the time has come to select one courageous young man and woman—" she pauses, "—for the _honor_ of representing District Two in the Seventy-Fourth Annual Hunger Games." she smiles. "As usual, ladies first!"

She puts her hand in the reaping bowl and twirls it gracefully, yet intensely around. She picks one slip of paper from the middle, and holds it up. She walks to the microphone and opens it up.

_Please not me. Please not me. Please not me. Please not me. _

Galea takes a breath and reads the paper.

"Clove Sevina!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

My stomach is turning. I feel as if I'm about to pass out. I can't feel my legs. It's as if they turned into water and I can't walk. My vision is blurred from the tears forming in my eyes. But I can't cry now, I can't, because all of us, here in Two, are trained to stay strong and win.

"Where are you, dear?" Galea asks the crowd.

I take one step forward, and she spots me.

"Come on up!" she gestures. "Come on up!"

I walk on small steps, passing by everyone. People that I know from the Training Center give me looks of grief and sadness, and I shoot them back with a look of helplessness, which is what I feel exactly now. _Helpless._

I walk all the way to the stage in small steps, and I stop at the point where I need to climb stairs. I look up, and see my new escort is waiting for me at the top. I take a quick glance at the stairs, hold the railing, and climb up very slowly.

Galea gets impatient. "Come, on dear!"

Once I'm at the top of the stairs, she grabs me by the shoulders and leads me to center stage. She grabs the microphone. "Alright! This is so exciting!" she stops jumping. "Now, are there any volunteers out there?" she asks.

_Someone please. Please, please, please. Anyone. _I hope.

After a moment, no one speaks. It's so quiet, I can hear the soft breeze whistling through the air. Galea waits for another minute for volunteers.

_Anyone? _

There's still silence. Great, I thought there were a lot more eighteen year olds in District Two who would volunteer.

"Well," Galea says. "It looks like, uh, what's your name dear?" she asks.

"Sevina—Clove. Clove Sevina." I stutter.

"Clove is our new tribute for the 74th Annual Hunger Games! Please give her a big hand for Clove's braveness!"

No one moves a muscle. I hear the wind whistle again.

After a moment, someone claps. I look to the direction of the noise and see him, Cato, clapping and smirking at me. Everyone follows him and claps too.

Galea notices this and cheers, "That's it! That's the spirit I'm looking for!"

People clap for another minute, and then stop.

"Now, for the boys." Galea continues.

She walks over to the boy's glass reaping ball. She moves her hand swiftly around, causing the mood to be intense. Every boy in the crowd, staring at the glass ball, hoping it's not them. I don't care about anyone, except for Caleb. He only entered his name once, which is good.

What if he does get reaped? Will anyone volunteer for him? Or will they just stand there and watch as he walks up the stage? If he does get reaped, I wouldn't want to kill him, of course. I want to keep him safe. So I make a rule where, if Caleb does get reaped, he's the one to go home, not me.

I stop thinking about it, because I know it's not going to happen. One slips, out of thousands. Just one slip. If you only have one slip, unlike the people who sign up for tesserae, your chances for getting reaped are very slim.

Galea picks one slip from the glass ball and holds it up. Every boy in the crowd looks tense and nervous. She steps toward the microphone, opens the slip, and reads aloud.

"Caleb Sevina!"


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

_Breathe, Clove. Breathe, _I think. _Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. _

How could this possibly happen? _One_ slip, out of thousands!

I see little Caleb, the contours on his body coming out of the crowd. His face looks as if he's about to cry. He does start to tear, but I look down to my feet, because I can't take it if he's crying. I look up and see him from the corner of my eye. He wipes away the tears on his face and starts walking on small steps, toward the stage.

I look down to my feet again. Now, I know that I'm going to have to sacrifice myself to make sure Caleb wins.

I don't see it, but I hear it. "I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute!" A deep voice says from the crowd.

I look up, and see that it's Cato. _Oh yeah, he turned eighteen a month ago. _I remember.

I watch as Cato runs towards the stage, pushing Caleb tiny little body behind him. "I volunteer!"

I look at Caleb and see the surprised look on his face. He doesn't say anything, but he knows that this is all wrong. No one should be volunteering for him. However, I'm glad that someone volunteered for him, so he can be safe. On the other hand, I'll be up against Cato. Strong, show-no-mercy Cato. Fight against him, and I'll be dead in no less than a minute.

I look to Galea, who has a surprised look on her face. "Uh, I believe we have a volunteer!" She gestures towards Cato to come up to the stage.

Caleb's still standing there, confused. He turns to me and I mouth the word "run." He catches it, and runs off somewhere to the crowd where my mother is.

Cato climbs the stairs swiftly and stands next to Galea.

"What's your name?" Galea asks.

"Cato Hadley."

"Everyone, please give a big hand to our newest volunteer, Cato Hadley!"

Everyone cheers. Not because the boy volunteered, but because they have another year to be safe.

After a moment of cheering, Galea says, "Well that's all for this time! Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the tributes of District Two for the Seventy-Fourth Annual Hunger Games! See you all next time—oh, and may the odds be _ever_ in your favor!"

She gestures Cato and I to the door behind us, and we walk towards it at the same time. _Come on, Clove. Be selfish. Be brave. Be fierce. _I tell myself.

When we get near the door, we bump into each other trying to get through the door. We both stop, look at each other, and before Cato could say something, I elbow him in the stomach. "Watch where your going, Hadley." I growl.

_That's good enough. Be a tribute from District Two: tough, selfish, fierce. _I tell myself what the trainers told me.

Cato stops in his place, groaning in pain, crossing his arms over the spot where I elbowed him. I snicker, and go through the door, satisfied.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Once we're in the Justice Building, some peacekeepers lead me to a room so visitors can visit me before they take me away and bring me to the Capitol. They give you three minutes. Not much time when you have a whole life's-worth goodbye.

I stand there, silent. I can feel water building up in my eyes. I can't cry now, no. Not when I'm about to see my family for the last time.

I try to hold my tears in, but as soon as the door opens and I see my mom and Caleb, I run towards them and start a laugh that turns into a sob. I hold onto them for a minute, feeling their soft skin on my rough knife-throwing hands.

I let go of them and wipe away the tears on my face. But as soon as I wipe them away, new ones form in my eyes and race down my cheeks.

My mom comes towards me and puts my head to her chest. I can hear her heartbeat. Steady, but racing. She tries to calm me down. "Sh, it's okay."

"I'm so scared." I choke.

I feel a small pair of arms hugging my stomach and look down to see Caleb. He starts sniffling, and starts crying. I can feel the wetness of his tears on my dress. I hold him to close to me. "Hey, it's okay."

I let go of my mother and kneel down to me height-wise with Caleb. He doesn't look at me, and instead looks straight down to the wooden floor. "Look at me." He shakes his head and continues crying. "Look at me." He doesn't budge.

I finally give in to my impatience, put his chin in between my thumb and forefinger, and lift his chin up myself. "Listen to me. Everything's going to be okay. Take care of mom for me, okay? Don't sign up for tesserae and train hard. Choose your weapon wisely. Choose one that makes you comfortable and train as hard as you can. You still have a long ways to go, kiddo." I poke him in the stomach, which makes him giggle softly.

He stops crying, and holds me at my shoulders. "You have to come back. You have to. You _need_ to." He starts crying again.

"I will. I promise," I kiss him on the forehead, in between his eyebrows.

We hug, and hug for a long time. I pull away, stand up, and walk towards to my mother. When I stand before her, I see she has a look of grief on her face. "I'm going to miss you, mom." I hug her.

Since I'm probably never going to see her again, I start to apologize. "I'm sorry. For everything wrong I've done. I'm sorry if I ever hurt you. I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry," I say while hugging her.

We both pull away and we look in each other's eyes. "I forgive you," she says. "I love you, so, so much." She takes my hand and squeezes it. I look at her from top to bottom. The dress she's wearing hugs her curves daintily, and she looks beautiful. I trail my eyes back up to her face, but I stop at her neck. I see her necklace, a clover leaf. A clover leaf; the plant I was named after. She notices me staring at it, and takes it off, turns me around, and clips the necklace onto my neck. "Here. For your token." she says.

I turn back around to face her and put a hand on my collarbone, looking for the necklace. I find it, curl my fingers around the clover charm, and rub the hard silver metal in my hand. "Thank you," I whisper.

I look back and gesture Caleb to stand with us. I hold both of them in each of my arms, clinging to them for dear life. All three of us come closer together, to stand in an embrace. I haven't felt this much love ever since my dad told me he loves me.

I hear the door creak open, but I ignore it. "Okay, time's up. Let's go." the dark-skinned peacekeeper says.

I oblige—I have to—and let go of them. Both of them shed tears as I look at their faces once more. "I'm going to miss you guys." I kiss mom on the cheek, and then kiss my brother on the forehead. "I love you."

"I love you too." They both say, almost in unison.

"Okay, let's go!" the peacekeeper shouts.

Both of them leave, walking backwards, so they can look at me. They try to give me a smile, but I can see the pain in their eyes—especially Caleb.

Once the door closes, I let out a sigh. I'm going to miss them so much.

I walk towards the door and stay a feet away. I hear commotion from the outside—a little boy's high-pitched screech combined with a man's dark, low one. Is that little boy's screech Caleb? What are they doing to him? What happened to mom? Are the peacekeepers hurting them?

The door swings open and I see Caleb running towards me. He throws his arms over me and starts sobbing loudly. "Don't go, Clove! You can't go!"

I grab his tiny little arms, and slide my hands down to his. I kneel down to have eye contact with him. He lets go of my hand and throws his arms around my neck. "You just _can't _go. You just can't. You're my sister." he whispers.

A peacekeeper from outside comes in. "Hey! Your time was up!" I hear him, but ignore him.

I position Caleb's head in front of mine so we can be face to face. "It's okay, Caleb. I'm going to win this thing, and come back. Just like—" I snap my finger,"—that. I promise. I'm going to come home."

"Okay, that's it!" the peacekeeper says. He takes Caleb from the collar of his shirt and yanks him out of my arms. Caleb winces, and I get worried. "Don't you _dare_ hurt him!" I shout.

My mom is behind the peacekeeper, yelling at him to let go of her son. The peacekeeper looks at her, then back at me, and shoves Caleb to her. "Fine. Take that stupid little mutt with you and go back home."

Before I start to yell at him for calling my brother a mutt, he slams the door in my face.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

I was in school when I got a message saying that my father was dead. It was in the afternoon right before lunch time. When I was 10.

I remember the exact conversation the principal had with me:

"Clove…your father, he's-"

"Oh, he's at work in the Nut." I cutted her off. "He's going to retrieve me after school ends."

"No, he _won't_. Not today, sweetie."

"What do you mean 'he won't'? He does that everday! Because he loves me!" I protested.

"Clove, I'm so sorry…"

I shot my principal a confused look.

"Your father's dead."

"_W-what? _No! You're lying!"

"Oh, I wish I was Clove. See, there was a drastic incident in the Nut this morning, and…your father was inside when it happened."

I looked down to the floor, tears built up in my eyes. Before she could explain anything further, I ran. I didn't know where to run, but I just had to go somewhere. The tears that were forming in my eyes created a wall of mist, which made my vision blurry. I finally stopped and came across our school restroom.

I went in and shut the door behind me, locking it. I stayed in back of the door, so nobody will be able to come in if someone went looking for me. I leaned my back against the door and slid to the ground. I allowed myself to cry.

It was the first time I realized how loud and how much a person can cry.

I couldn't stop myself from crying. Every time I tried to calm myself down, new tears would be forming and racing down my cheeks when all the good memories I had with my father came popping into my mind.

I felt as if my whole world was crashing down. Like a flood of tears came washing over my heart, filling it with grief, destroying everything in it's path.

This is exactly how I feel now.

I shut the door of my suite in the Capitol train and allow myself to cry.

I run to the bed and lay on my stomach, crying my eyes out into the soft velvet of the blanket.

I hear a knock on the door. "Dinner will be ready in 15 minutes!" It's Galea.

I try to sound as normal as I possibly can. "Okay," I shout through the door.

She leaves the door. I can hear her heels make a _click-clack _sound as she walks away.

Dinner in 15 minutes? I still have time left.

I calm down, and survey my suite. I've never seen anything like it before. Velvet blanket, crystal chandelier, new television, a drawer with clothes in it, and my own bathroom.

I'm thinking about bathing before dinner. Maybe I should. I walk back to the drawer and pick out some clothes-a brown v-necked shirt and black pants-and walk into the bathroom.

I look around and can't help but let out a "Wow." Tiled floor, marble vanity counter, and gold-colored shower. I look in the shower, and see a bunch of different buttons. Some red, some blue, some green, some yellow.

Once I find the button that actually turns the water on, I step in.

When I'm done rinsing my body, I move to my hair. I move my head under the water and close my eyes.

The water rushing down my face reminds me of the river that Caleb and I used to walk to. We'd take our mother there sometimes, and she'd bring a little bit of food. After my father's death, this was when I was at my most happiest and peaceful.

When I'm done rinsing my hair, I step out of the shower. I catch myself in the mirror and just stare at my naked body. I look at my neck, my collar bone sticks out, and when I inhale the bones inside my neck are visible. I move my eyes down to my stomach, and look at how flat it is. I look down to my legs, and notice how bony it is. I need to get some food in me.

When I'm dressed up, I tie my hair into a ponytail. I look normal again. I put my reaping dress in a hamper and walk out the bathroom door. I give myself one last look in the mirror in my bedroom, and sigh. "Well, this is as good as it's gonna get."

Even though I said that, I'm not really insecure about my body. I think I look absolutely fine, a little bit on the bony side, but only because we get new food once a week in Two.

I walk out of my suite and find that everyone's sitting on the dinner table, except Cato. I walk out of the hallway and hear a door open. I turn around and see Cato behind me. I stop and stare at him, and then his clothes. _We're wearing the same exact thing._

Cato notices this too and grins. "Hm, I like your taste in clothing. You sure you didn't spy on me while I was changing?"

I roll my eyes. "Ew! What person in the right mind would do _that_?" I whine.

He raises his eyebrows and smirks. "Ha! Look who's talking," he says.

I stare at him, confused. He still stands there smirking at me.

Then it hits me, and I realize what he means. I'm _not _in the right mind. I throw knives, for crying out loud. I don't mind the insult, though. Everybody has a little insanity in them, even Cato. I just haven't seen it yet.

I try to think of a good comeback, but I can't think of anything, because I agree with him.

I look back at him and see him smile. Not just any smile-a devilish kind of smile.

"Huh, that's what I thought." he says with a tone of victory.

I roll my eyes again and turn around to start walking towards the dinner table.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

As I walk towards the dinner table, I scour the food on top of it. My knees start buckling. I haven't seen this much food in, well, never. My eyes lighten up when I see a whole roasted chicken plopped in the middle of the whole thing. I sit in a seat next to Galea, and Cato sits next to me. In front of me, I see two empty chairs. Must be for our mentors. I already know who my mentors are. Both of them do it every year, since they won the Games and are still alive. Brutus and Enobaria.

Enobaria won the Games when I was about 2. I remember that she won by killing everyone by ripping their necks apart with her teeth. After the Games, she had her teeth done to make them sharp with golden tips. To be honest, it looks like she hasn't brushed her teeth in ages, and she's been eating a sharp chain saw.

Brutus, well, Brutus is a drunk. I've seen him around the marketplace and trade center. One time, he was so drunk that he fell in the middle of the marketplace and started sleeping. I didn't see him, so I accidentally stepped on him. I didn't notice until after I left a shoe print on the back of his shirt.

I didn't notice that Galea has asked me a question until Cato nudges me on the shoulder. I loo to him and raising my eyebrows, asking him what he wants. He then points to Galea. She raises her eyebrows for an answer.

"Oh, sorry! What was your question again? I completely zoned out." I said.

She chuckled and said, "Oh, it's fine, dear. I was asking what your weapon is, being from Two and all!"

"Um, I throw knives," I say.

"Throw knives!" she exclaims. "That's a new one! From what I remember, you're the only one who says knife-throwing is there weapon."

My eyes widen. "Really?"

"Mhm!" Giving me a reassuring smile.

Wow. I never really thought about that. My trainer said that not a lot of people choose knife-throwing as a skill, but I never thought it'd be this unpopular. My trainer also said that people in Two don't choose it very often, because it takes great ability, patience, and hand-eye coordination.

Lucky I'm one of those few, huh?

A sliding door opens, and Enobaria enters the room. It shuts close, but then opens again, and Brutus is in.

Brutus is the first one to speak. "Oh! Looky here, two new tributes shipped from Two."

He puts his arm around me and says, "You know, every female tribute who on here has a little thing for me. It's okay if _you_ do, but you know, you could tell me." he smirks.

The stench of alcohol reeks on his breath. I chuckle. "Not in a million years, oldie. Just keep on dreaming." I say, and push him away.

He looks at me, his cheeks turning red, full of embarrassment. I hear Cato laugh loudly, but he covers his mouth to keep the laughter inside.

Brutus walks away from me and sits next to Enobaria, across from Cato. Enobaria rolls her eyes and says, "Sorry. But he wasn't lying. Every female tribute does fancy him."

I chuckle and say, "Well, not this time."

Cato giggles. I turn my head to the left and look at him. He shoots me a wink, and I look back, rolling my eyes.

Awkward silence fills the room. I look back and forth at Enobaria and Brutus. Enobaria is placing food on her plate, while Brutus just sits back and drinks up the alcohol in his glass.

I look at the food and end up just staring at the whole thing. There is so much food. Roasted chicken. Some sort of white mush with green leaves on top, and much more. I just stare at the chicken. Galea notices and says, "Well, dear, aren't you going to eat?"

I look up at her and nod. The chicken is cut up, so I take a few pieces. I look at the white mush, and start to wonder what it must be. "I think they call it mashed potatoes." Cato whispers in my ear, sending chills down my spine.

I get a couple spoonfulls of the white mu—mased potatoes, and put it on my plate. I look down to my plate and try to eat very neatly, but once I take one bite of the chicken, I couldn't stop myself. It was so good. I move on to the mashed potatoes and put a spoonfull of the thing into my mouth. It's not slimy, just very soft and wet. I swallow it and it just slides down my throat, filling my stomach with warmth.

I get the same things about two more times. By then, I'm stuffed.

I lean back into my chair and just breathe. That was the most amazing meal I've ever had yet.

Cato leans back too, and says, "Don't worry, Clove. I won't let you go into a food coma."

He puts his hand on my stomach.

An instant rush of warmth shoots all over me. But, why?

I am too lazy to swat his hand away, so I just leave it there. It wouldn't hurt, right?

After a few minutes, his hand does leave my stomach. And that warm feeling inside me is gone.

Maybe it's because his hands were warm, which made me feel warm, too. It's either that or the other reason why, which we all know. I don't see him _that_ way. At all.

Brutus and Enobaria leave, and Galea, Cato, and I are all that's left.

After a few moments of silence, Galea stands. "Well, you two better get some sleep. Tomorrow will be a long day when we arrive at the Capitol."


End file.
